Articles
Being a Child of God: Innocence
"Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world..." (Philippians 2:14-15)
While sitting and waiting for some car work to be done, I had the opportunity to watch some cartoons that I had seen as a child. Watching them in the present day, I realized just how many “adult” jokes are in them that went right over my head when I was younger.
It is sad how much of our innocence is lost over the years simply due to our living in the world. However, as a child of God, we are told that we need to strive for purity and innocence. How do we go about doing that?
There are various passages to look at when it comes to this topic. Colossians 3 breaks down this process well. In chapter 3 verse 2, Paul says, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” It begins with our decision to put our focus on spiritual things. He goes on to tell us that Jesus is to be our life. Being a Christian is a change of who we are, and not simply the stopping of sin.
Paul continues in the chapter by saying, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (v. 16-17). As we turn our attention to spiritual things, and as we begin to allow God’s word to not only dwell in us but to make every decision based off the principles found in the Word of God, then we will begin to live a life of innocence.
Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” What we fill our hearts and minds with will go a long way in determining just how pure we are.
What a great opportunity for all of us as God’s children to live a life of innocence. We should always strive to focus on the things that are truly important which can be done by not filling our minds with things that will only cause us to found guilty in the sight of God.
